Many entertainment games and related products are known and available to the public. Although applicant is not aware of the complete scope of the prior art, current games generally provide little or no educational value or intellectual stimulus. Generally, current games are designed solely for entertainment and typically have no practical significance to everyday life. Additionally, games which are educational and which deal with legal subject matter are unknown by applicant to exist in the prior art.
The American public is basically unaware of the workings of the American judicial system. This unawareness is reflected in a general public ignorance of legal rights, procedures and terminology. For example, a survey conducted by the Hearst Corporation in 1983 revealed some alarming statistics relative to the public's unawareness of basic and simple legal concepts. Some results of the survey are as follows:
approximately 50 percent of those surveyed incorrectly believe that a person is guilty of a crime until he proves himself innocent; PA1 approximately 21 percent of those surveyed believe that they are informed about the court system; PA1 approximately 55 percent of those surveyed incorrectly believe that the state can appeal a case if a defendant is acquitted of a crime; and PA1 approximately 45 percent of those surveyed incorrectly believe that the job of the District Attorney is to defend an accused person who cannot afford a lawyer.
The above statistics are presented to show a long-felt need for legal educational methods which are effective in inspiring and teaching legal subject matter to the public.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an effective method for teaching legal subject matter to the public. It is a further object of the present invention to develop an interest on the part of the pubic, particularly minors, in learning legal subject matter. It is an even further object of the present invention to provide a method of teaching legal subject matter which will promote retention and easy recall of said subject matter using legal educational games.